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Kota Kinabalu, Sabah—United Borneo Front (UBF) Chairman, Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan announced in a press statement on Monday that the concept of UBF as a civil rights movement will now become a full-fledged committee known as the “the UBF Committee” under the Borneo Heritage Foundation, a registered NGO which he founded several years ago.
Dr. Jeffrey said that the decision was made to ensure that the baton of leadership would eventually be handed over to young, fresh leaders who can continue the UBF agenda and assist members from a registered body. “I want to make it absolutely clear that the UBF Committee is not a political party although matters which are addressed by the committee are political in nature. As part of the BHF, the UBF Committee can now progress as a registered NGO. I will eventually delegate my duties in UBF to a new Chairman, but in the meantime I will continue to lead the UBF Committee as the existing Chairman and when I finally find a successor, I will observe the committee in an ex-officio capacity as the overall President of the Borneo Heritage Foundation. I also plan to summarise and simplify our core demands to make it easier for the people to understand and grasp,” Dr. Jeffrey said in his statement.
Dr. Jeffrey expressed an intention to reduce his intense workload and schedule in other NGOs and movements that he leads. “I have not fully recovered from my injuries which I sustained in a car accident a few years ago. It has physically compromised me and the intensity of having to balance a political and non-political career is taking a serious toll on my health. There will be more delegation of duties especially if the call of duty means that I may have to take on the more physically demanding role of becoming a politician in preparation of the 13th General Elections. In the next few months as I continue with my ‘Borneo Tea Parties’, I will monitor my ability to physically sustain the intense travelling and work expected of me if I entered the political arena. In the event I rejoin politics, I may either register a new party or join an existing one.”
Dr. Jeffrey confirmed that the UBF Committee under the BHF will comprise new faces from their membership database. “I will be inviting various guest speakers to join me in my tea parties, including my co-founders, Nilakrisna James and Zainal Ajamain. It has been an intensive 3 months of UBF campaigning and I now need to spread the workload.”
On the issue of his co-founder, Nilakrisna, joining politics, Dr. Jeffrey stated, “I fully support and respect Nila’s decision to join the Barisan Nasional (BN) component party, the United PasokMomogun KadazanDusun Murut Organisation (UPKO) headed by Tan Sri Bernard Dompok. UPKO has shown a real commitment to the Borneo Agenda and even participated in some of our tea parties. They have not joined the Borneo Alliance that I’m promoting as they have chosen to remain with the Barisan Nasional. Nila intends to promote the Borneo Agenda through politics and has informed me that she will continue to participate in the UBF tea parties as one of our invited guest speakers. We have discussed the matter in great detail and came up with a succession plan for UBF to ensure its longevity and sustainability. She will continue to promote the UBF’s struggle and though she will not be part of the new UBF committee, she will always be known as the UBF co-founder.”
Both Dr. Jeffrey and Nilakrisna have in the past made visits together to distinguished individuals in pursuit of their interest in Borneo’s political history and what they describe as “the extraction of precious gems of history”; notably a visit to former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in early 2007 and more recently to former SNAP Minister Datuk Amar James Wong.
Dr. Jeffrey concluded, “I acknowledge with great thanks and appreciation the ideas, research and efforts of my co-founders and supporters and I credit the following people: Nilakrisna for the creative strategies, press statements, presentations and the name ‘United Borneo Front’; Zainal Ajamain for academic research, published works, ideas and presentations; Joe Telado for creative graphic design and the new UBF cum Borneo Alliance logo; Mike Goviind for administrating and monitoring the UBF facebook account and tea parties; Raymond Tombung for some of my political press statements; and all our UBF supporters, writers, journalists and friends. I hope that we can in some way or another continue to contribute our ideas and assist the new UBF Committee under BHF. I will introduce the new committee in due course.”
Dr. Jeffrey said that the decision was made to ensure that the baton of leadership would eventually be handed over to young, fresh leaders who can continue the UBF agenda and assist members from a registered body. “I want to make it absolutely clear that the UBF Committee is not a political party although matters which are addressed by the committee are political in nature. As part of the BHF, the UBF Committee can now progress as a registered NGO. I will eventually delegate my duties in UBF to a new Chairman, but in the meantime I will continue to lead the UBF Committee as the existing Chairman and when I finally find a successor, I will observe the committee in an ex-officio capacity as the overall President of the Borneo Heritage Foundation. I also plan to summarise and simplify our core demands to make it easier for the people to understand and grasp,” Dr. Jeffrey said in his statement.
Dr. Jeffrey expressed an intention to reduce his intense workload and schedule in other NGOs and movements that he leads. “I have not fully recovered from my injuries which I sustained in a car accident a few years ago. It has physically compromised me and the intensity of having to balance a political and non-political career is taking a serious toll on my health. There will be more delegation of duties especially if the call of duty means that I may have to take on the more physically demanding role of becoming a politician in preparation of the 13th General Elections. In the next few months as I continue with my ‘Borneo Tea Parties’, I will monitor my ability to physically sustain the intense travelling and work expected of me if I entered the political arena. In the event I rejoin politics, I may either register a new party or join an existing one.”
Dr. Jeffrey confirmed that the UBF Committee under the BHF will comprise new faces from their membership database. “I will be inviting various guest speakers to join me in my tea parties, including my co-founders, Nilakrisna James and Zainal Ajamain. It has been an intensive 3 months of UBF campaigning and I now need to spread the workload.”
On the issue of his co-founder, Nilakrisna, joining politics, Dr. Jeffrey stated, “I fully support and respect Nila’s decision to join the Barisan Nasional (BN) component party, the United PasokMomogun KadazanDusun Murut Organisation (UPKO) headed by Tan Sri Bernard Dompok. UPKO has shown a real commitment to the Borneo Agenda and even participated in some of our tea parties. They have not joined the Borneo Alliance that I’m promoting as they have chosen to remain with the Barisan Nasional. Nila intends to promote the Borneo Agenda through politics and has informed me that she will continue to participate in the UBF tea parties as one of our invited guest speakers. We have discussed the matter in great detail and came up with a succession plan for UBF to ensure its longevity and sustainability. She will continue to promote the UBF’s struggle and though she will not be part of the new UBF committee, she will always be known as the UBF co-founder.”
Both Dr. Jeffrey and Nilakrisna have in the past made visits together to distinguished individuals in pursuit of their interest in Borneo’s political history and what they describe as “the extraction of precious gems of history”; notably a visit to former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in early 2007 and more recently to former SNAP Minister Datuk Amar James Wong.
Dr. Jeffrey concluded, “I acknowledge with great thanks and appreciation the ideas, research and efforts of my co-founders and supporters and I credit the following people: Nilakrisna for the creative strategies, press statements, presentations and the name ‘United Borneo Front’; Zainal Ajamain for academic research, published works, ideas and presentations; Joe Telado for creative graphic design and the new UBF cum Borneo Alliance logo; Mike Goviind for administrating and monitoring the UBF facebook account and tea parties; Raymond Tombung for some of my political press statements; and all our UBF supporters, writers, journalists and friends. I hope that we can in some way or another continue to contribute our ideas and assist the new UBF Committee under BHF. I will introduce the new committee in due course.”
Something is wrong with this man...
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